hey!!!
once, in a bar in Dawson City, I hear a folk song, about Canadian pirates........
everyone (except me), in the bar knew it, and, sang along and stomped their feet, there was even a midget jumping from table to table, dancing a jig..........

10. "The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" - The Arrogant Worms
We stumbled upon this little ditty while doing research on the Net in regards to seminal pirate songs. While we're not terribly familiar with the work of The Arrogant Worms we couldn't help but smile at their chutzpah. I mean who would have thought there'd be pirates in Canada? Not us, that's for sure. Then again the pirate spirit has the uncanny ability of manifesting itself anywhere it damn well pleases, Canada included.

Based on the first verse and chorus, this song is about a chap who just couldn't take it anymore. Instead of telling his bosses to take their job and shove it, he decided he'd shove it to the man, pirate style.

"The Last Saskatchewan Pirate" excerpt:
Well, I used to be a farmer and I made a living fine/
I had a little stretch of land along the C. P. line/But times got tough, and though I tried, the money wasn't there/The bankers came and took my land and told me, "Fair is fair"/I looked for every kind of job, the answer always no/"Hire you now?" they'd always laugh, "We just let twenty go!" (Ha ha!)/The government, they promised me a measly little sum/But I've got too much pride to end up just another bum/Then I thought, who gives a damn if all the jobs are gone/I'm gonna be a pirate on the river Saskatchewan! (Arr!)

{Refrain:}
And it's a heave (ho!) hi (ho!), coming down the plains/
Stealing wheat and barley and all the other grains/And it's a ho (hey!) hi (hey!), farmers bar yer doors/When you see the Jolly Roger on Regina's mighty shoresâ€¦

I've been wondering all these years...........one of my favorite memories includes that song..........I'm wondering if they sang it just because I was in there, and, the only Yank.........I was in a drinking contest with two Kanuk youths..........and, the midget, hopping from table to table, dancing a jig while this song played over and over and everyone cheering, stomping thier feet, and singing along........hahahaha

It was the night, also, that I had a "sour toe" cocktail at the (IIRC) Dawson City hotel and bar.

Haha! Glad you like it, that one's a cdn classic if ever there was one.

...once in a bar in Hyder Alaska (not so different from Dawson City) my aunt became the object of some local neanderthal's affection... without a word he approached her, took off her snakeskin boot (it was 1982) then walked around the place with everyone pouring a bit of their drink into it, with much hooting and caterwauling... then he drank the whole thing down in one go, and put the boot back on her foot.

there weren't any midgets doing any kind of dance on the tabletops though...

the young Canuk fellows, had befriended me. We were visiting and such, when one said:
"we like you Yanks, but, well, seems you can't really hold your liquor"...........

well.............

we agreed, drink for drink, and, a full size beer, for a shot (since I drink hard liquor).

we left that bar, went down to the hotel/bar where I had my "sour toe" cocktail, and, several others........all in good fun, they were introducing me around as their "southern friend".hahahahaa

we ended up back at the bar with the dancing midget.

well, it was aboot (grin) 3 am, and, we were discussing, something terribly important, I'm sure.
the one fellow, took a last gulp from the beer he was drinking, and, his eyes rolled back in his head, and, he fell straight backwards off the chair........

the people around applauded, knowing the drinking contest we had been having since about 9 pm that night (of course, it was still light out),
his buddy, laughing, finished his beer, and, I, downed the last of my brandy..........

well,

the remaining buddy, was laughing, then, started puking........fell on the floor, and, crawled on his hands and knees, past the stage, dry heaving and puking like a sick dog, when they arch their backs to really puke.......he then passed out cold on the boardwalk just outside the door. We laid his head over the side so he'd not drown or anything, and, I was "the winner"...........

hey!!! once, in a bar in Dawson City, I hear a folk song, about Canadian pirates........ everyone (except me), in the bar knew it, and, sang along and stomped their feet, there was even a midget jumping from table to table, dancing a jig..........

That wasn't at Diamond Tooth Gertie's was it? I vaguely remember swinging from chandeliers and the next thing I know,,,, was on Midnight Dome thinking, "WTF?"

We will have ELEVEN Canucks camping with us this year, and they all seem desperately willing to participate! Go figure. Trish is canuckian herself so I guess it goes with the territory.

You know how CANADA got its name don't you? Their founding fathers got together and put the letters of the alphabet in a hat. Jean Claude pulls out the first letter and yells, "C, eh"; The second letter, "N, eh"; The third letter, "D, eh",,,,,, the rest is history.

Many, many years ago Canadians showed me great hospitality. I was on a driving trip across Highway 1 (I think that's it, the transcontinental) from Winnipeg to Vancouver. To a person they were helpful, and kind. At the time America was a little spotty in welcoming strangers. And I really liked the loonie and toonie. Useful. We could use a practical coin here, issued in sufficient quantities to be useful.